Dietmar Hamann has cast doubt on Florian Wirtz's future at Anfield.
The German international, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, has struggled to make an impact in the Premier League, failing to score or assist in his first 11 appearances. The 23-year-old has been sidelined for the last two matches due to a muscle injury, but he could return for Sunday's Premier League showdown against West Ham.
Hamann, however, has questioned whether Wirtz will remain at Liverpool beyond January. "Could Florian Wirtz still leave Liverpool on loan in January? Yeah," said the former midfielder, who won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool and reached the 2002 World Cup final with Germany.
"Obviously, with all the help and all the protection from the club and the manager, if you bring somebody in for that amount of money, then maybe he should be the one, even though he's still very young, then maybe you expect him to turn things around.
"I don't think, the way he's playing at the moment, I'm not sure he's capable of doing that. And when I watch him sometimes, you know, thinking, has he lost belief because it is in the Premier League?
"Sometimes when I watch him when he loses possession, I'm thinking maybe it's because it's a lot quicker, a lot more physical, as if he were to say, 'I'm not sure that's for me.'
Liverpool has struggled this season
Liverpool has struggled this season (Image: Getty Images)
"I hope I'm wrong, but this is how it looks to me. Sometimes if it's going on for too long, you know, it's very hard to turn it around."
In a conversation with CoinPoker.com, Hamann continued: "He doesn't look happy at the moment.
"He's a player who learned football on the streets, and that's how he played for Leverkusen, and this is why he was so natural, he always did the right thing.
"Now he doesn't do that anymore, he thinks too much. I think he works too much going backwards, which credits and honours him because he wants to help the team.
"But obviously, he was brought in to affect games on the other side of the pitch, and he hasn't done it so far.
"Having said that, it might take a little bit of weight off his shoulders because people clearly saw this past weekend that he is not the problem. Despite that, so far he's been very disappointing.
"I think he's got until Christmas now to show his worth, which is not easy because, as I said, the team is not functioning at the moment.
"I think if he doesn't do it from now until Christmas, I'm pretty sure that the club will get together with him and see what the best would be for both parties."